well, well, well....

It's February already?  Didn't that just creep up on us and bite us in the tushy?  The year is a little more than 1/12th over.  The first half of the first quarter is nearly done.  Kaput.  It's almost time to celebrate all the l♥ves in your life as Big Red Heart Day is now only 9 days away  Before I know it I will be dragging that decrepit artificial tree down from the attic and decorating it all over again.

We've been really having a great time with the weather this past week. The week started out well with temps that were way above normal.  They actually were that way towards the end of last week as well.  We're talking 80 degrees.  Seriously.  Monday was a good day but overcast.  Monday night all hell broke loose and we had storms, rain, sleet, thunder snow.  You name it, I think we had it.  I woke up to about an inch of ice on the ground and had I owned a pair of ice skates I could have gotten to work really easily.  This is what it looked like as I stepped out my front door.

We were literally covered.  It was an ice rink out there.  And it was really strange.  You see that dark spot near the mail box?  That's actually water pooled underneath the ice.  That was what it looked like all over the place.  It was really weird.  I have never seen anything like it before even growing up in South Dakota.  I had a field day with it as anywhere I walked I would stomp the ice trying to break it.  Yes, just as one of the guys from work said, I am reliving my childhood and believe me, I am in heaven over here this week!  Work?  You ask if I went to work since I mentioned it?  Yep.  I went to work every day this week and made it on time everyday.  Knowing how to drive in this weather I was a force to be reckoned with as I blazed a trail to work every morning.

Remember me mentioning the temps being above normal?  Well, the temps have now been below freezing, averaging the teens and 20s and wind chills in the single digits and even below, for more than 100 consecutive hours this week which meant that with gray skies the ice didn't go anywhere quickly.  That wreaked havoc when we woke up to what was supposed to be less than an inch of snow yesterday morning really was 6+ inches and it snowed almost all day long off and on.

This is what my trip in to work looked like:

I'm not sure now much we ended up with all total (somewhere between 6-8") but those weather men were way off their calculations yet again.  I swear, the only job where you can get paid the big bucks and be wrong almost 95% of the time.  I know, I know....Mother Nature cannot be "predicted" and I have great respect for weathermen since I am a "weather" lover.  Did I already mention I'm in heaven?  I think I might have.  I got to play in the ice and play in the snow.  I wanted to do "donuts" in a really bad way and "plow" snowbanks of which we have never had down here.  It wasn't a total loss though, the kids had a record 4 days off from school due to the weather, unsafe driving conditions and rolling blackouts we experienced.

Superbowl XLV is here this weekend and I cannot even begin to imagine how many people are stranded elsewhere trying to get here because of these storms. I wonder just what all those who actually made it are thinking about the weather.  To add insult to injury now there are big sheets of ice sliding off the stadium which have injured people.  And to think the weatherman is predicting rain and snow possible tomorrow as well as another round of the same mid week next week.

Did you hear Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow so the prediction is we will have an early spring.  Somewhere in the past week or so on TV I heard them say that we will be seeing temps in the 80s by the end of February.  Blech!

So aside from the weather I've been trying to score as much time as I can in my studio, braving the cold (these houses down here were so not made for cold weather) and working on my Soul Restoration class.  As is typical for me, it's into week 4 now this week and I'm just barely getting through with week 1.  Maybe I'll be done by the time part two of Soul Restoration rolls around in June.  Honestly I need to get moving on it because unfortunately we do not have forever access to the class so I need to work through it quicker so I can view all the videos, etc.

The little one wanted to learn to sew and we forged ahead on that project, Simplicity Learn to Sew pattern #2286, and hit a brick wall.  Still need some time and a huge amount of help to figure out what went wrong.  The casing on the skirt is not measuring up with the darts and the sides of said skirt.  I've been scratching my head for about two weeks now.  And all my Little wants to do is finish her skirt.  Hopefully this will not make her shy away from the fun she has had learning to sew, which she says she loves.

The Little had her 15th birthday last weekend.  We celebrated and ate like kings around here.  A shopping spree at XXI was her gift from us so we headed down to NorthPark Center where we perused the two floors chock full of clothing and the little boutique attached full of fun sparkly yummies.  And I got the sparkly floors and chandies made me happy!

She tried on armfuls of clothes and walked out a very happy girl as her wardrobe begins to bust.  That girl needs another closet!

I've come across a few really fun things in the 'net' recently.  Take a few moments and check all these yummies out!

diy valentine's cakes from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.
As I was reading Heidi's blog earlier this week she had this video up and I couldn't help but smile and knew I had to share.  This little lovely was originally featured on Design*Sponge and is from Tiger in a Jar.  Total happiness.

A new issue of the little online mag from inspireco to peruse will be released soon.  Check out the back issues here.  They are divine!

Speaking of divine little lovies to read on the web.....how about this little doozie appropriately named Simply the Sweet Life?  Several very lovely ladies, who are also Spark sisters, have some goodness tucked away inside.  The very talented, adorable, bubble, spunky and sweet contributors are April Meeker from second sister suaviloquy, Rhonna Farrer who is 1/3 of the House of 3, and Margie Romney-Aslett from The Girls' Paperie/The Girls Loft. 

Okay, that picture of the cake has me going.  How about checking out the lovely and uber talented Rosie over at Sweetapolita?  Oh my gosh that girl can bake a cake!

 Sweetapolita

Holy guacamole, doesn't that look yummy.

Is your mouth watering?  Do you want a piece?  Or two?

Wait for it.......here's the whole deal:

 Sweetapolita

I think I've just died and gone to heaven.

I may be jumping off the Boston Creme Pie bandwagon and doing a quick exchange for this dreamy darling for my birthday cake this year.  I actually was thinking about this cake by Allrecipes because it's awful divine in and of itself but I think some very deep soul searching is in order here.  I mean, it is, however, a cake fit for a princess, dontcha think?  And if you want to bake one for yourself head over here, or click on the link underneath each photo, to snatch up the recipe quick!


Now that oughtta keep you busy for a while!